Bloomsbury Imperial Subjects: Citizenship in an Age of Crisis and Empire

This highly original work posits that the changes in the nature of citizenship caused by neoliberal globalization must be understood as the result of an ongoing imperial project. Although they may seem admirable, policies such as humanitarian and citizenship rights are really an imperial venture led by global institutions and corporations in order to export capitalist market forces worldwide. This entails a form of neoliberal citizenship in which social security is replaced by market insecurity and rising inequality. In this light, the citizen becomes an ""imperial subject"" whose needs and desires have been colonized by the global market. However, emerging social forces in Latin America and elsewhere have begun to challenge this imperialist logic, fostering a resistance that may bring forth a new global vision of citizenship. This unique analysis draws together neoliberal citizenship, new imperialism, and the creation of 'financial subjects' into an innovative theoretical exploration. By expanding the debate on global citizenship, Imperial Subjects will engage readers in political and social sciences interested in contemporary political thought, citizenship, and globalization. Review Colin Mooerss Imperial Subjects: Citizenship in an Age of Crisis and Empire advances the Marxian understanding of citizenship beyond the usual contrast of legal equality and substantive inequality. Mooers demonstrates not only how capitalism creates the basis for juridical equality among citizens, but constantly creates and recreates categories of non-citizens subject to varied forms of legal coercion. He applies this framework to a provocative analysis of citizenship in the current era of neo-liberal capitalism. Imperial Subjects is a major contribution. --Charles Post, author of THE AMERICAN ROAD TO CAPITALISM: STUDIES IN CLASS-STRUCTURE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICAL CONFLICT, 1620-1877 (2012)This book is a powerful and penetrating analysis of the legal subject in contemporary global capitalism. Demonstrating a remarkable breadth, Mooers effortlessly charts a course through the complex debates around commodity fetishism, value forms, state theory and neoliberal imperialism. Always attentive to moving beyond Western-centric frameworks, the book provides a devastating critique of liberal notions of citizenship and a profound insight into the ways that legal subjectivities under capitalism are essential to ongoing imperial domination. Highly recommended! --Adam Hanieh, Senior Lecture in Development Studies, SOAS, University of London and author of Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East (2013)In recent years, and especially since the 2008 financial crisis, there has been a striking shift in public discourse about the fundamental flaws of capitalism. But, while much has been said about such effects as, above all, rising inequality, even the most widely read  and celebrated discussions have barely scratched the surface. Colin Mooers has taken a huge step forward with his innovative, lucidly argued and accessible analysis of transformations in the global market, its complex interactions with a new imperialism and a new form of neoliberal citizenship, which should change the conversation--both scholarly and popular--in truly fundamental ways. --Ellen Meiksins Wood, Emeritus Professor, York University, Canada, and author of Democracy Against Capitalism (1995) and Empire of Capital (2003) About the Author Colin Mooers is a Professor of Politics and Cultural Theory at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada. He served as Chair of the Department of Politics and Public Administration from 2001-2006 and as Director of the York-Ryerson Joint Graduate Program in Communication and Culture from 2008-2011.